Docking a salaried employee’s allotted paid time off for failing to meet a productivity standard is legal under federal labor law, according to a new court opinion.
A group of now-former Bayada Home Health Care employees had sued the company in federal court in Central Pennsylvania over their lost PTO. The case ended up before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, which decided the case Wednesday.
Each worker had a predetermined number of “productivity points” they were required to meet each week, which were awarded for completing specific work tasks, the court opinion said. One point was roughly equal to 1.33 hours of work — a routine patient visit, for example, earned one point. Employees earned additional pay if they exceeded the minimum points required for their salary level, but Bayada would subtract from their PTO allowance if they came up short on productivity points.
Nurse Stephanie Higgins, for example, had a 30-point weekly minimum, and later requested to change it to 25 points for a reduction in salary, the opinion said. She occasionally failed to meet the minimum and lost PTO hours from her bank. Higgins was under the impression that if she failed to get her required points and had no more PTO remaining, her pay would be docked, but that never actually happened because Higgins never exhausted her available time off, the court opinion noted.
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